In traditional computing systems, communication between computers is either code (a software application) or data (a file containing information) and there is no notion of a program moving between hosts while it is being executed. Thus, with a typical computing system, a person may execute a software application (e.g., Microsoft Word) on his/her own computer and then forward the results of the execution of the software application (e.g. a Microsoft Word document) to another user. The other user may then view the Microsoft Word document by executing his own copy of Microsoft Word. A user may also send another user an executable software application file that the other user may download and execute on his own computer. However, these traditional computing systems do not recognize a single instantiation of a software program that may be executed by one or more different computers in order to complete the execution of the software application.
A jumping application, sometimes also called a jumping app or a mobile app or a mobile application or a mobile agent, is a currently executing computer software application/program, or part of a currently executing program that can physically move from one computer to another (between hosts) while it is being executed. A jumping application's software may or may not have been previously installed on a particular computer prior to the arrival of the jumping application. The jumping applications are said to jump from one computer to another computer, and the process of jumping from one computer to another computer is also referred to as a jump.
The process of initiating a jump between computers is commonly known as a dispatch. Typically, each jumping application will carry with it an ordered list or tree of hosts which the jumping application must visit during its execution, and such a list or tree is called the jumping application's itinerary. The computers that can receive and dispatch jumping applications are called hosts. The collection of hosts, computer networks, and software which executes and supports the jumping applications, and the jumping applications themselves, is called the jumping application system.
A jumping application typically has at least two parts: the state and the code. The state of the jumping application contains all of the data stored, carried, and/or computed by the particular jumping application. The code of the jumping application is the set of computer instructions which the host computer is intended to carry out on behalf of the jumping application during the execution of the jumping application by the particular host computer. In addition, a jumping application have other parts, including security parameters, an itinerary, a data store, an audit log, etc. A jumping application's software may or may not have been previously installed on the computers prior to the arrival of the jumping application.
Jumping application have demonstrable benefits for computer systems. However, they also create new problems not encountered in traditional computing systems. In particular, a jumping application that is tuned for optimal performance on one computer system might be sub-optimal on another computer. For example, a jumping application which confines its user interface to a very small window might be good for execution on a handheld device, but it would not take advantage of the large screen typically found on desktop computers. Thus, there is a need to alter part or all of the behavior and/or state of a jumping application according to (a) the needs and/or capabilities of a target host computer and (b) the needs and/or capabilities of the jumping application when dispatching to that target host computer.
Current implementations of jumping application systems do not support the notion of altering part or all of the behavior and/or state of a jumping application according to the needs and/or capabilities of a target host computer and the needs and/or capabilities of the jumping application. Thus it is desirable to provide this functionality in a jumping application system so that the jumping application morphing system in accordance with the invention has the capability to alter part or all of a jumping application's behavior and/or state which is called morphing, and the process of altering part or all of the behavior and/or state is also called morphing.